Havana (yes Cuba) Marathon Recap

I ran the the Havana Marathon on November 20th this is my bib and the finisher medal:

It was interesting to notice only the foreigners had names on their bibs

We made this trip through Marathon Tours & Travel (Marathon Tours & Travel)
I had booked the trip before relations between Cuba and the US had improved and it was mostly my wife's idea.  She wanted to visit Cuba before it changed too much due to outside investment.

The race itself went better than I thought because it was hot and humid (at least much hotter and humid I am used to!). I finished in just over 4 hours which was faster than my last marathon in Boring, OR in September (that was a surprise). 

The course for this race is a half marathon so the full marathoners did two laps.  Most of the people entered were doing a 10k or half marathon so during the second lap there was a lot of open spaces on the course.  Here are a few pictures from the second lap:

These were taken right by the hotel we were staying at which was right across the road from the ocean

On trips like this I try not to care so much about the time in the race because it is more about the rest of the trip.  With that in mind I never looked at my watch until right near the end and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to run that fast considering the weather.  Here are a few of the memorable points of the race:

- This is the second race I have ever done where they handed out water in bags at the aid stations!  I had experience that you to rip open the corner with your teeth so you could drink it.  Due to the heat and humidity I was taking two bags later in the race and dumping one over me to try and cool off and drinking most of the other one.
- We were told they would not have any electrolytes at aid stations beforehand but they did have some colored liquid in bags.  I tried an orange and purple at various points, they weren't bad and not overly sweet like some drinks.
- The last 10 miles they had ice at the aid stations and would give you a big handful every time you stopped in front of them.  I kept making it into a ball and switched off which hand I held it in to cool off.
- The first lap the traffic was shut off of the race course but by the second lap it was a bit more open because we were running through various parts of the city.  Some places traffic was in the next lane over so you were sucking in some exhaust.  It bothered some of the other runners but it still really wasn't that bad to me (maybe because Denver air quality can be bad at times!).
- They do not have access to all the shoe brands or have the money to buy running shoes.  I saw lots of people running in flats, ripped up shoes, Chuck Taylor Converse, etc..  That leads to something else,,,
- As soon as I finished the race people asked me for my shoes.  This happened to lots of other runners on the trip we were on.   In fact every time I went out for a run people would ask me for my shoes.  There is a lack of many things in Cuba so I did bring down a variety of running gear and gave it to people I met. 

Overall it was a great trip and I was able to learn a great deal about Cuba and the people.  We were really lucky in that the trip was before Fidel Castro died because I think they would have cancelled the race itself it happened a week later.

I have to be honest and say this was a trip my wife wanted to go on more than me.  I had little interest in visiting Cuba and figured running the marathon was a way to do it.  I was also completely wrong as I found in incredibly fascinating.  This is one of the first vacation trips where my suitcase weighed more on the way down than when we left as we brought a lot of different things to donate.

I have not included a bunch of pictures or wrote a blog about Cuba and the people itself because I don't know if people are really interested as this blog is mostly about running.  Leave me a comment if you are and I will write one along with pictures.  


 
 

The Boring Marathon - Recap

After several weeks delay I have finally got around to writing a recap of The Boring Marathon in Boring, Oregon that was on September 18th.  First thing here is the race bibs and finisher medal.

The medal can also be used as a belt buckle (some 100 mile racers might have an issue with that)

I signed up for this race for several reasons: 1. I saw the name and thought I have to run that and 2. I thought it was enough time after my Ironman triathlon that I would be recovered to run a decent race.  

This is the race website: http://www.boringmarathon.com/index.html  If you take a look at it and read some of the areas you can tell they do not take themselves too seriously such as this:  

"Water and food - In general, we recommend consuming water and food daily as a matter of basic survival. As for the races, there will be plenty of refreshments at the start and finish and along each race route."

It is a smaller race and it is only the 3rd year they have held it so there were a few hundred people between the full and half marathon.  This race is not a Boston Qualifier and and I still haven't found any online results (then again I haven't really looked very hard as I didn't run very fast).

We stayed in Portland while we were there for the race and drove the 30 minutes or so to Boring for packet pick up and the race.  The packet pickup was in front of The Boring Brewery (yes I got a t-shirt and tried a few), included in the the race swag was a pint glass and coupon from the brewery.  Saturday it was raining pretty hard at times but it was supposed to let up before the race and luckily it did.  

Sunday morning the marathon started at 6:30 while that 1/2 started 30 minutes later.  It was just starting to get light, the skies were overcast and it was cool so perfect running conditions.  The course is an out and back on a trail through woods and neighborhoods with a few side roads through neighborhoods in order to get to 26.2 miles.  The course is not difficult although there were a few hills thrown in here and there.  

I started out fine at a good pace and ran my usual first half under 2 hours but the second half was a bit of a struggle.  I could tell my quads hips were still tired and I had no kick in them.  I ended up finishing in around 4:15 which is not anywhere near what I would expect with such nice conditions.  It really didn't bother me that I was slow because it was a nice race and I can cross Oregon off the list of places I have run a marathon.  

A few race notes:
- If you have been to Oregon you might have seen these:

These are slugs that are 2-3 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide.  The paved trail we were on had them as you got deeper into the woods.  It was humid out and they come out of the undergrowth and will sit on the trail  or eat any food people might have dropped. You do not want to step on these because it causes a huge mess on your shoe.  I was dodging around them for most of the race. 

- This was a really well run smaller race but if you want spectators cheering for you then this is not the race as there were large stretches where you don't even see anyone
- This is nice time of year to visit Portland because the city is not too crowded. 
- Always bring a rain coat to Portland (Note: I have been to Portland numerous times and everyone expects it will rain it is just matter of how much and how hard).
- This is not an expensive race to run and you can run a fast race but you can't qualify for Boston at it yet.
 

My brother Paul (state #38, marathon #83), his co-worker Mike (took 3rd in his age group, state #36, marathon #57) and myself (this was #33).

Part of the fun of visiting any city is being a tourist.  I have been to Portland many times for work but didn't have time to go and see things.  We took a historical walking tour of Portland that was very eye opening.  Portland and Oregon has a very interesting (and racist!) history.  I won't expand on it but you can look it up if you want. 

There are a lot of homeless people in downtown Portland so you will run across them most places you go.  Portland is very progressive so they have more programs to take care of them homeless (that is what we were told during our  walking trip).  The homeless we have in Denver are much more aggressive trying to pan handle when you are downtown, we were never approached by them the whole time we were there. 

On Monday after the race we had a late flight out so we drove up to Mount St. Helens and it was incredible!  

We stopped along the way at the visitor center and sat through the movie that showed all the events that happened and in what order.  It was fascinating if you like nature and gives you a background on what you see as you are driving up to the observatory which faces the mountain itself.


Along the way we stopped at a few tourist spots to buy some stickers, look at things and get pictures taken with a Bigfoot statue (there are lots of bigfoot souvenirs you can pick up alonjg the way!. 

This statue is made with ash from the eruption mixed in with concrete.

The farthest you can go is Johnston Observatory (named after a man named Johnston who was there when the mountain erupted, his ) : http://www.fs.fed.us/visit/destination/johnston-ridge-observatory

Pictures alone don't do the landscape justice because it is like the surface of the moon in places with plants starting to grow in places.  There were clouds covering the top of the mountain but this is looking directly at it.  All of those valleys and fissures were caused by the mud flows after the eruption.  

 

The clouds were covering the top but you can see that everything is still recovering 36 years after the eruption

This is facing left of the mountain, that lake in the distance was filled with trees due to the force of the avalanche, eruption and mud flows. There are no trees at this altitude as they were all ripped off and you see huge stumps everywhere.

This is facing right of the mountain, it is not really visible but there is another lake out there that was formed after the eruption.  The movement of of all the ground and subsequent flooding caused a new lake to form.


     



















That is the race and trip recap.  Honestly I think the most memorable thing about this trip was Mount St. Helens, it gives you a whole new appreciation for the power of nature.

Boulder Ironman Recap

On 8/7/16 I completed my second triathlon and first Ironman distance in Boulder.  It took over 14 hours (which is longer than I wanted) but I am still happy with it as I finished! 

First thing here is a picture of the hardware:

The weeks leading up to this were a bit nerve wracking because I had never attempted this distance.  I can honestly say that with the exception of competing in bodybuilding in my early 20's that this was the hardest training cycle I have ever done for anything.  Every day would be a mixture of running, swimming, biking and weight training.  In addition getting my nutrition in order to finish this (and not waste away or get injured beforehand) was more of chore than I thought it would be.  Also I have been traveling every other week for a project I am working on in Atlanta so I had to figure how to effectively train there.

I was lucky enough to not have to travel the week of the triathlon and the week after so I could recover at home.   I had my bike tuned the week before the triathlon so I would not have to worry about it at the last minute.  

I am not sure if the other Ironmans have this but Boulder did have a Facebook page and the race director posted informational videos for each part of the race weeks before the race itself.  These were really helpful as I was able to go up to Boulder and ride the bike course several times before the race itself.   There were also videos on the check in process, transitions bags, the swim and run course and even for spectators that were coming to watch.   These were extremely helpful.

I checked in on Thursday and sat through the orientation session.  The expo was outdoors on the grounds of the Boulder High School.  There was a good selection of vendors as well as Ironman gear.  The only bad part is getting to that part of Boulder and parking is hassle but that is Boulder.

My brother came out from Wisconsin to do this Ironman (his 6th!) so I met up with him on Friday and Saturday.   He checked in a day later but we went together on Saturday to drop off our bikes and transition bags on Saturday.  It took a few hours as we had to drop our bikes and bags off at the Boulder reservoir then go over to the Boulder high school again to drop off our run transition bags.  After that it was time to head home and rest until the next morning.

Sunday was race day and I was up extremely early (didn't need an alarm as I was ready to go and didn't sleep much) because our swim start was at 6:20.

Everything is extremely well organized with these races, you end up at Boulder High School so you park near there and you get on shuttle buses to go up to the reservoir.   They don't have enough parking so competitors and spectators had to take the bus. 

I lined up with the 1:45-2 hour swimmers to start because I really had no idea how long it would take me.  We started the race 20 minutes or so after the triathlon started because they staggered the start to eliminate crowding.  This was the only part of the race that I was nervous about not making the time limit.   Once I got going the nerves went away and I swam from buoy to buoy.  It was a bit difficult to navigate as it was cloudy out and my goggles are tinted.  The far end of the swim course had a large amount of algae but I just kept swimming through it and never stopped except to pull my swim cap back down on to my head because it kept sliding up.  I ended up finishing in 1:38 which was a happy surprise!  Here are some pictures at the end of the swim:

I headed into transition 1 and the hardest thing was getting the darn wet suit off!  It slides off my upper body easy enough but my legs and feet were another thing.  I got changed into my biking gear chugged a bottle of water and jogged to the mount area (you can't just hop on your bike you have to be out of the bike racks and in a safe area to get on your bike, you get on early or don't have your helmet buckled you get a time penalty).  Once I got on the bike I started riding at a good pace.  I had an advantage over most of the competitors who are not from here in this race as I knew where all the hills were because of riding the course so many times.   I passed a fair amount of people (including my brother!) in the first 20 - 30 miles.  I also noticed there were people who would pass me on the downhills but I would pass them back on the uphills.  I figured out these were people that had high dollar triathlon bikes with race wheels so better equipment does make a difference.

There was an accident during this event in that a competitor got hit by a car about 30 miles into the race (I found out afterwards that she died).  I passed by the scene of the accident after the police had arrived and were directing people around site and people were assisting the person on the ground.   It was really sad to hear about this afterwards because she was a mom with a 4 year old son.  According to news reports she went outside the cones which separated the biking lane with traffic and that is when she got hit.

I settled into a rhythm biking where I got fluids of some sorts at every water station and would force myself to eat a bar or GU pack or Clif shot every 30 minutes.  The sun came out and it warmed up a lot (it ended up being in the 90's that day).  

I made it into the last 20 miles skipped the last water station (I had fluids and was tired of orange Gatorade) and sped up to finish.  I finished the bike and got changed (my body glide melted sitting in a bag in the sun) chugged down some fluids and set off to run.   This is where things got tough.  My core was sore from being hunched over for so long and kept getting a cramp in my back so I would run whenever I could until the cramp flared up then I would have to walk it out.   I made the situation even worse by trying cramp relieving item they were handing out that is named Hot Shot.  Hot shot tastes like a mixture of battery acid and cough syrup that they carbonated.  It did nothing for my back cramp dissipate but it made me nauseous so now I would run until I felt like I was going to throw up then have to walk.  To add to it the heat was over 90 degrees (luckily we have low humidity in Colorado!) which got me a bit dehydrated. 

The race course is two laps of the same route and I was so incredibly slow in the first half (over 3 hours) because I just could not get into any running rhythm.  I saw my wife at about the half way point and told her I would be back in a few hours.   I started to feel better after the halfway point so I was able to run more and walk a lot less.   After I got to 20 miles I really started to pick up the pace.  At no point in this did I ever think I wouldn't finish it was just a matter of how long it would take.  What really made me feel better was one of the aid stations gave me a glass of beer at mile 21.6!    I ended up running a negative split and finished the 2nd half of the marathon faster than the first!

This was my first view of the finish line

Just before nearing the finish line

Finally done!

I was moving at a good pace at the end and actually ran up on the person n front of me when I finished (it ruined any good finishing pictures for me!). 

The end result:

People have asked if I will do another one and I tell them possibly.  It is huge time commitment to train for one of these (at least it was for me).  I do have an advantage now in that I know how to swim and don't have to learn how to before doing another one.   Right now I am going to recover some and prepare for my next marathon in September.  I plan on running more, biking and swimming less but still doing some and trying lift weights more.  I lost some muscle and strength during my training and would like to gain some back so I will be increasing my protein intake.  In other words I will be grilling out every weekend and eating more!

If you have ever thought of doing an Ironman I highly recommend the Boulder one.  It is very well organized, the swag is awesome (hat, shirt, backpack and other stuff).  The only thing I will warn you about is the altitude and heat.   It is over 5500 feet altitude so it will effect you during the bike and run.  My brother ended up getting a bit dehydrated but he did finish over an hour and a half after me.  He was expecting to finish before me (heck so did I) but I think the altitude and low humidity made it harder than expected. 

Until next time happy running!

Boulder Olympic Triathlon review and thoughts on triathlon training

Every year I like to try some new type of race or running distance.  This year that new race is a triathlon.  I signed up for couple triathlons this summer and did my first one (an Olympic distance ) on 6/4 in Boulder, Colorado (http://www.withoutlimits.co/).  Note: For those that don't know an Olympic distance is: 1500 meter swim, 40 k bike and 10 k run.  If you are curious about other triathlon distances look here: https://totaltriathlon.com/triathlon-distances

I decided to do this one as my first triathlon because it is not that far away from my home and I had heard this race is well organized and a good one first time triathletes.   Also the second triathlon I am doing is also in Boulder the first weekend in August and is in the same area so this was a warm up race.

The end result is I finished in around 3:15, I was hoping for 3 hours but am very happy with my time and not needing a water rescue during the swim!.  Some of the highlights and how I approached training for this event:

- I rented a sleeveless wet suit (they recommended them because we have had a cool spring and the water temp was supposed to be cold, it turned out to be perfect!).  Always try on your wet suit before hand and make sure it fits right.  Mine did fit but it was a bit snug in the neck, I got badly chafed but didn't notice it until after I was done and for the next few days (because it hurt like hell!).   I will be renting a size bigger for the next triathlon.

- Before I started training for these triathlons I can honestly say my swimming ability is best described as "It would be hard to drown me".  I have no background in swimming (in fact I had never taken a swim lesson until I started training for this!),  so I watched lots of videos on You Tube and took some swimming lessons from a Masters swimming group coach.  All of this really helped because it was the event that I was the most nervous about.  The swim was my slowest event but I expected it, I just did not want to burn up a ton of energy trying to complete this portion of the race.  When you first see how far you have to swim in open water (almost a mile) it can be kind of intimidating.  But I took the approach of swimming from one buoy to the next so I wouldn't go off course.  The course is a huge rectangle with 4 buoys on your right, then a right turn, swim to another buoy, turned right again, then pass 4 more buoys on your right back to about 50 yards down the beach from where you started. The only issue I had swimming is near the end I got a cramp in my calf which made it difficult to transition out of the swim to the bike as I was trying to shake it out.  I ended up taking 4-5 minutes which was a bit too long.

- You set up your transition area so you have everything out that you need as you need it.  I had my bike gear on top of my bike and my running gear on top of towel next to my bike.  This worked out perfectly because I didn't forget anything.

- My goal on the bike was to finish in about an hour and not let anybody pass me.  Nobody passed me but my time was a bit over an hour although I was happy with the result.

- Transitioning from bike to run was another place I ended up wasting time.  I tried to use the Triathlon mode on my Garmin watch and ended up trying to get it to work right because you have to hit the right buttons for it to go from each event to transition mode then on to the next one.  Next time I will just use a specific event mode so I won't have to worry about it.

- My running goal was to finish in under an hour and not have anybody pass me.  I finished right around an hour (part of it was me getting my watch to running rather than triathlon mode because I could not get it to time things right) and I passed a lot of people with nobody passing me.  

- Overall it was a great experience and I have no bad things to say about this race because they are really well organized.  If you are interested in doing a triathlon and are a first time this company runs some really good races: http://www.withoutlimits.co/ . 

- Race swag was a hooded sweatshirt and a pint beer glass which is great because I have a ton of race t-shirts.

After finishing

So far I have learned a few things about triathlons: 

 - Ask triathletes, swimmers and cyclists for advice, most of them will give you lots of helpful training and competition tips that really do help.  

- You can spend a lot of money on equipment in no time, figure out what you want to spend on and what you want to save on.  I bought a road bike at the end of 2015 from a triathlon shop and they fit it out for triathlons.  I saved a bunch by going when the store wanted to clear out inventory during their slow time of year.  I am renting wet suits because I just don't feel the need to buy one.  I swim in pools most of the time so there isn't a need for one and the only open water we have in Colorado are reservoirs and lakes and doubt I will be swimming much in them.

- Get your biked fitted by a professional.  It does make a difference in comfort and speed particularly as you go longer distances. 

- Learn how and what you can eat while biking because that is when you refuel. 

- You don't have to wear a tri suit, shorts or shirt, wear what works for you.  I found out out that most triathlon gear does not fit me right or is uncomfortable (seriously do any of these guys lift weights because the tops are sized for someone with no upper body muscles).  I have found some tri shorts and one top that will work but the rest of the time I wear standard running or biking gear.

- There will be good and bad training days.

- You burn a large amount of calories training so you have to raise the amount of fuel (food) you are eating or else you will lose strength and size and your training will suffer.  Just make sure you are eating good protein/carbs/fat and not junk.

- Brick workouts are the foundation of triathlon training.  Most days I get at least two of the three events in and sometimes all three, some weekends I will do the a complete swim/bike/run workout to simulate a triathlon so I can get used to moving from one to the other.  

- I feel much more comfortable in the water now but don't know if I will ever really like swimming.  I have started to like road biking and am glad I got a good road bike that I can use even if I no longer want to do triathlons (previously I was into mountain biking but I don't do that barely at all anymore).

- You will need more sleep and rest when you are in hard training mode.  It can't be very difficult to fit it all in but luckily my family understands the time commitment this takes and are supportive.

 
My next triathlon is this one: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/boulder.aspx#/axzz3oemWGVgt

I decided if I was going to do triathlons I was going to train to eventually complete a full Ironman (I run marathons so I figured this was just adding a swim and bike ride on before them, yeah great rationalization there!).  Most of my time the last few mnonths consists of: working, training, nutrition and trying to get enough sleep. The training for this takes up most of my free time (I am a golfer but have not played or even hit a golf ball this year because I don't have the time and don't want the distraction from preparing for this race).

My goal for the Boulder Ironman is to finish within the time allowed, that is all.  I have no illusions about an overall time other than making the cutoff times in the swim and bike.  My brother has done a few different Ironman triathlons and he is going to come out to Colorado to do this one so it should be a fun event weekend.  Personally this as one of the bigger challenges I have undertaken due to the swimming involved and my lack of experience in that area.